STUART -- The oldest flying DC-3 in the world, the American Airlines Flagship Detroit, will be appearing at the Stuart Air Show on Nov. 3 - 5 and will be offering area residents the opportunity to fly on this historic airplane during its stay in Stuart.

Always one of the most popular static displays at the Stuart Air Show, pilots and stewardesses dressed in vintage uniforms worn by flight crews during the 30’s and 40’s will be giving tours of the airplane cabin and cockpit.

A number of Treasure Coast residents will be part of the crew for the airplane during the air show.

Among the pilots will be retired AA Captain Tony DeSantis of Palm City. “Stewardesses” include Alyce Grady of Stuart, a current AA Flight Attendant and retired AA F/A Peggy Fairchild of Jupiter. During the air show, two local professional entertainers, Dick Grady of Stuart and Judy DeSantis of Palm City, will be performing at the DC-3 singing the great American standards and big band tunes that were popular during the time the airplane was in service with American Airlines. Assisting with ground handling and tours are Gary Noviski of Port St. Lucie, a former DC-3 commercial pilot, as well as Bill Brooks of Port St. Lucie.

There are over 100 other local residents who have become members of the Flagship Detroit Foundation, a non-profit foundation whose goal is to promote awareness of the DC-3’s remarkable history and to preserve its legacy.

American Airlines’ first scheduled passenger DC-3 flight was June 25, 1936. Flagship Detroit was the 21st DC-3 to join the AA fleet in March of 1937 and is now the oldest flying DC-3 in the world celebrating her 80th birthday!

The Flagship Detroit will take to the skies over the Treasure Coast on Friday, Nov. 2 and Monday, Nov. 5, before and after the air show. For area residents interested in joining the Foundation, memberships are available for $100 (tax-deductible contribution).
In addition to a local area flight, during which you will have an opportunity to sit in the cockpit, take pictures, listen to air traffic control and chat with the pilots, membership also includes the opportunity to fly on the airplane for a year during positioning flights as it travels to air shows around the country.

One recent new member, the son of a legendary American Airlines pilot who flew the DC-3 back in the 1940’s, wrote to thank the Foundation after his flight: “I can NOT tell you what that all too brief junket aboard the Detroit did for what's left of my memory.

To think back on that era and the near heroic stature of the guys who flew the Detroit and the thousands of DC-3's just like her, well, a sizable lump is re-visiting my throat a week later.

Again, it was an incomparable thrill! So, thanks for a new treasured memory.” For membership and flight information, please contact Captain Tony DeSantis at tonyd767@gmail.com. Learn more at www.FlagshipDetroit.org